


Ex Posto Facto

by genericfanatic



Series: Voltron Trek [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, pre-klance, so don't get too excited there's mostly just flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 04:21:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8563861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genericfanatic/pseuds/genericfanatic
Summary: Lance is accused of murder and must re-live his supposed victims last moments over and over





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the Star Trek Voyager fic of the same name.
> 
> TBH I'm not super happy with this one. I've been having a bad week and the words weren't coming, but I wanted to finish it and now its finished and I'm gonna move onto other things. More one-shots will be coming and the next one I'm hoping will be cute.
> 
> Also I stick with my statement that these one-shots can be enjoyed on their own, but there is some level of continuity, so here's some info in case you haven't read the others in this series: 1) While on a planet of telepaths (Betajor) Keith and Lance made out for a bit under the influence of some telepathic alien juju. 2) Pidge and Lance were once captured and Pidge witnessed Lance get stabbed in a knife fight rather than kill someone.

   
“What do you see, Mr. McClain?”

The image of the doctors in front of Lance faded and was replaced by the image of a house, a house he was familiar with, as he had been in it a few days earlier. “It’s…Rolen’s house. The front door.” The vision in front of him made it seem as though Lance was walking, but he knew he wasn’t moving. The door opened, allowing him to see inside. A strange alien beast Lance recognized as this world’s idea of a pet jumped up at him, excited. “There’s Rolen’s pet, Buggaloo or something.”

“Good,” He heard the alien doctor’s voice say, “That’s what you should be seeing.” 

The image made its way through the house. Another door opened, and Lance saw himself kissing an alien woman, with orange and yellow skin, giant black eyes closed in pleasure and webbed hands. 

“What the—“ Lance said, watching himself make-out with an alien, “This—this isn’t possible.”

“It can be hard to see yourself through another man’s eyes, Lance.”

The woman, who Lance recognized as Rolen’s daughter, Paloa, separated from the image of Lance. “Father!” She cried, nervous. 

The image of Lance looked up as well. “This—this isn’t what it looks like.” 

“Not what it—“ Lance recognized Rolen’s voice though didn’t see him, “This is preposterous! You come here searching for peace and yet you come here, and seduce my daughter? Your friend’s told me about you, Lance McClain, I know your type, flirting every woman in the cosmos. Well, you’re not going to be hurting my Paloa—“

“That’s not what happened!” The image of Lance said.

“This ISN’T what happened!” The real Lance said.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Rolen yelled rushing forward to push Lance. Paloa started screaming.

Lance punched him and he reeled back. “Big mistake,” Lance said, and grabbed a ceremonial knife off of the shelves. As Paloa screamed, Lance stabbed Rolen’s torso.

The image began to fade, but Lance could feel the knife lodged in his side. He reached to hold onto it, but nothing was there. Still, it was a sharp pain and made him feel like he was choking on his own blood, gasping for air.

“Procedure successful,” The alien doctor said, “Lance McClain will suffer the image of his own murder twice a cycle for the rest of his life.”

 

“Any sign of them?” Allura asked.

Pidge sent out another signal trying to reach them, “None yet.” Allura bit her lip, anxious.

“Don’t worry,” Shiro said, “Hunk and Lance are resourceful. They’ll be okay.”

“I know,” Allura said, “I’m just remembering all the reports of Galra activity in the area.”

Shiro sighed, “Do you want us to go in after them?”

Allura shook her head, “Not yet. If it is just a delay, I don’t want to scare the Numaeans. The Galra have given them plenty reason to be paranoid.” Shiro sighed, and nodded. “Still,” Allura continued, “If we don’t hear anything from them in 10 of your minutes, I’m going to portal right through their precious shield and land on their planet.” Shiro snorted. 

“I’m getting something,” Pidge piped up. Shiro and Allura turned on alert. From the other side of the room, Keith and Coran’s heads popped up, and they came over as well, “It’s a message from Hunk!”

“Well?” Shiro said, “Play it!” 

“Hold on,” Pidge said, “It’s badly garbled. Let me clear up some interference.”

Allura breathed a sigh of relief, “I can feel it, Yellow and Blue lions coming this way.” She frowned, “But…Blue seems distressed.”

“Is Lance okay?” Keith asked, concerned. 

She bit her lip, “I don’t know.”

“Hunk to Pidge! Pidge, do you read me?”

“I gotcha, Hunk!” Pidge said, loud and excited, “We’re coming to intercept you guys.”

Allura jumped up, piloting Lion castle. More static came through the radio, “Lance…I wanted to…but they didn’t let me…” Hunk stammered. His voice sounded pained.

“Hunk?” Pidge said, flipping switches to try and clear up the signal. She turned back to the others, “Everything’s clear on my end, I think there’s something wrong with Hunk’s comm.”

Shiro and Keith tensed. “I’ve got them on visual,” Allura said, and they all turned to the window. 

Coran gasped as they watched the yellow lion, sparking and worse for wear, carrying the limp blue lion in its claws. Shiro grimaced, “I’m going to go help him get blue into the hangar.” He jumped up and went down to the Black Lion.

The minutes waiting for Hunk and Shiro to come up from their hangars was agony. Hunk leaned onto Shiro, gasping for air, dirty and bruised all over. There was no sign of Lance. “Where’s Lance?” Keith demanded, the second he came up. 

Hunk flinched in pain at the words. “They…they kept him.”

“Easy, now,” Coran said, helping to support Hunk, “We’ll get you to a healing pod, you’ll be in tip-top shape in no time.”

“Coran, wait,” Shiro helped to lean Hunk against a wall, “First, we have to know what happened to Lance.”

Hunk nodded, swallowing as he gathered energy. “They…they wouldn’t let me see him…interrogated me for days, thinking we were Galra spies. They said he’d…they said Lance had murdered someone.”

The others frowned in surprise, “Hunk,” Allura said softly, “start from the beginning.”

Hunk swallowed, “We…we got there and showed the minister your message. He said he’d have to talk to the council or whatever, but that he was strongly considering forming an alliance with Voltron. In the meantime, I asked about their defense shield, like you said I should, and he introduced us to the head engineer in charge of the shield, Rolen.”

Hunk swallowed, “We ended up going to his house for dinner. Rolen and I started discussing shield dynamics, how it worked and all, a lot of engineer talk…Lance got bored. He ended up wandering off and, well, Rolen had a young, beautiful daughter.”

The other five groaned, all thinking back to a different incident involving Lance and a beautiful woman. “Yeah. Anyway, I kinda lost track of him after that. Next day I went to the council meeting with the minister. Lance wasn’t there, I figured he was goofing off or something. Next thing I knew, I was being arrested. I was told Lance had killed Rolen. Like I said, they interrogated me, but eventual said it was motivated for personal reasons. They let me take the blue lion back with me, but—“ Hunk shook his head, eyes welling up.

Shiro patted his arm, “We’ll get him back, Hunk. Promise.” With Coran’s help, they pulled him towards the healing pods. 

Allura jumped up and started piloting the ship directly to Numaea, leaving Pidge and Keith alone. “You don’t think…” Keith trailed off, “Lance couldn’t have actually—“

“Killed someone?” Pidge asked. She shook her head, “Not a chance. If it had been any of the rest of us—with the exception of maybe Hunk—I could see there being an argument. But Lance…” She shook her head.

Keith nodded, choosing to agree with her. Still, there was SOMETHING nagging in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

 

“Minister,” Allura snarled, “I was willing to accept your terms to keep our distance before, but you have one of my paladins in custody, and I simply cannot let that pass.”

The minister frowned across the video stream, “And I cannot let you into our orbit. You are far to big a target for the Galra. The only reason we’ve stayed out of this horror is NOT drawing attention to ourselves. We may have been willing to form an alliance before, but after the actions of your paladin, I cannot—“

“How do you know he did it?” Allura said, “I would like it if we could examine the evidence for ourselves before the trial.”

The minister blinked, confused. “I’m sorry, Princess Allura, but the trial has already happened, and the sentence carried out.” Pidge put a hand to her mouth in shock and anger, while Keith dug his fingernails into his palms, shaking with rage.

Allura was better at keeping her composure. “And what WAS the sentencing?”

He considered her. “First off, life imprisonment. And he will re-live the last memories of his victim for the rest of his life.”

Allura frowned, “What do you mean, ‘re-live?’”

“It’s a technology from our world,” He said, “We can extract the last memories of a person’s life. They can then be implanted either in a person’s brain, or, for the purposes of a trial, an AI. The AI for this trial clearly relayed the memory of Lance McClain stabbing Chief Engineer Rolen in the heart. That, along with his daughter as a witness, clearly confirms his guilt in this case. And so, the memories were implanted in his own brain.”

They all felt their hearts drop. Keith felt Pidge vibrating beside him, and he clenched his fists again, very much wanting to punch this minister. “Still,” Allura said, “We would like to review the evidence. And we want to see Lance.”

“We gave you the Blue Lion!” The minister said, “Get a new Paladin, and carry on your mission, but I don’t see how you would WANT a murderer on your—“ Another Numaean came into view and whispered into the minister’s ear. The minister clears his throat, “My advisor tells me he suspects you aren’t going to just give up now, and the longer you stay here, the longer a target for the Galra is on our back. We will allow you to fly your ship into our solar system, keeping a distance of 1.7 million units. We will also allow one of your lions access to the surface, and an audience with your former paladin.” 

Allura looked to Coran and Shiro. They both gave small shrugs, indicating ‘that’s probably the best deal we’ll get.’ “Very well,” she said, “Expect the black lion to land on the surface soon.”

The transmission cut out. “He’s been framed,” Pidge said instantly. 

Coran twiddled his mustache, “I wonder if the technology they use is anything like Altean memory extraction. If so…that’s usually fairly reliable.” 

“It’s tech, though,” Pidge said, “Any tech can be hacked by a professional.”

Shiro considered her, “And the eye-witness?”

“Probably the one who framed him!” Pidge said, exasperated. 

Allura took a long breath through her nose, “Well, we’ll find out. Shiro will take me down to the planet and—“

“Ah, Princess?” Coran said, “Might I offer a suggestion?” She nodded, “Allow me to go to the surface in your stead. My uncle was a prime Altean detective who spent years solving murder cases like this and I’ve learned quite a lot, so I think I should be—“

“Yes, Coran,” Allura cuts him off, “If you want, you can go in my stead. Please, both of you send a message when you see Lance and…” She trails off, “Please bring him back.”

 

Coran and Shiro quickly made their way down to the planet. For a moment, Black gave him the signal for an incoming Galra ship, but it disappeared just as quickly. Still, he sent a message back to Allura. Keith and Pidge were at the ready, ready to jump in their lions at a moment’s notice.

Soon enough, though, the two were seated in a waiting room, when Numaean guards brought in Lance, “Shiro!” Lance said, smiling. He was clearly the worse for wear, giant circles under his eyes, but he was quick to pull Shiro and Coran into a hug, “Oh, its good to see you guys.”

Shiro patted him on the back. “Good to see you too,” He said. “Lance, we have to ask you some things.” Shiro felt Lance slouch a little in his arms, and then let go. “I’m asking only because I have to, but…did you—“

“No.” Lance cut him off. “Rolen may have been a bit of a jerk, but I didn’t KILL him.”

Coran and Shiro frowned in sink. “Rolen was a jerk?”

Lance sighed, “Look, I know it’s probably better like, for my case to say I loved the dude and we were best buds, but he was, dammit, he was a controlling and cold jerk.”

Shiro looked to Coran who was twirling his mustache, deep in thought. He continued, “Hunk didn’t mention anything about him being a jerk.”

“That’s because Hunk is easily seduced by engineering talk,” Lance said. He shrugged, taking a seat on the couch, “When we got to his house, the two of them clicked right away. Rolen gave Hunk alien food that was tasty, and by the end they were practically finishing each other’s sentences as Rolen laid out how the shielding worked. Hunk did his duty as Paladin and got information so we could try and duplicate the shield on other planets. Meanwhile I actually talked to his daughter, who knew a different side to Hunk’s new BFF.”

Shiro sat as well, “Lance…did you…I mean…” This was harder to say than he had thought. He decided the direct route was best, “Did you try and seduce her?”

“No!” He protested. Shiro kept frowning at him, wanting to believe him, “Look, Shiro, I get why you’d think that, I really do, but I was just talking to her.” A twinge of guilt passed over his face, “And…okay, we went swimming a little. And um…” He swallowed, “She…may have come on to me a bit. But I didn’t flirt BACK!”

Shiro looked to Coran again, but he was still considering what Lance was saying. Shiro sighed, “Why don’t you tell us what YOU remember.” 

Lance sighed. “Hunk and Rolen were talking and kinda forgot my existence, so I wandered around the house a bit. And I found Paloa…in-in the pool.” Lance blushed slightly. “I got really excited to swim, okay? I just…I asked to join, and stripped down and…I thought it was just a friendly kinda swim.” He swallowed. “Anyway, she talked to me about her father. You know he rarely talked to her? Ever since her mother died, he’d been cold and distant, throwing himself into his work. He—he paid for her school, but that was the most interaction they got unless he was chastising her. And he did that a lot.”

Lance bit his lip, “He would like, decide everything about what she studied at school, told her she wasn’t allowed to see anyone. Just, the whole stereotypical controlling father thing.” He sighed, “I was trying to comfort her, you know, sympathize. Which, I suppose could be seen as flirting.” He swallowed. “But I didn’t kiss her or anything, and I certainly didn’t kill her father!”

Shiro nodded. “Aright, Lance. I believe you. Do you know of any enemies who may have framed you?”

Lance sighed and leaned back against the wall. “Beyond Keith and the entirety of the Galra empire? I got nothing. Like I said, I didn’t really like Rolen, but it never came to a head. We never even had an argument! He…” Lance swallowed, “He did warn me once to stay away from his daughter. And I may…possibly have said something along the lines of ‘his daughter can do whatever she wants, including me,’ but that was! I was just frustrated! I hate dads like that. If my dad pulled that on any of my sisters, my mom would have flipped her shit. And I—“

Shiro put up a hand, “Lance, I told you, we already believe you didn’t do it. Right Coran?”

Coran stopped twirling his mustache when he realized he was being addressed, “Yes, well…From my knowledge of Lance I find it unlikely. But if my uncle taught me anything its that we must first consider all the facts.”

Lance moped at Coran, “But--! Coran! Buddy! Pal! You know me, you know this isn’t possible. I can’t—it hurts.”

Coran looked a tad ashamed, “Lance, you know I value you as a paladin, I just—“

“No,” Lance cut him off, clutching his head, “I mean it HURTS!” A second later, Lance was grabbing at his hair and writhing in agony. 

“Lance!” Shiro said, reaching over and holding him before he fell onto the floor. Lance’s face was scrunched in pain, “Is it the memories? From the punishment?” Lance nodded as best as he could, curling up on himself in pain. “Coran, get the doctor!” 

 

10 minutes later, the doctor was examining Lance, who’s vision seemed to have ended, but he was still shaking. “You have to let us take him back to our ship,” Shiro pleaded with the minister, who had arrived when he heard there was a commotion.

The minister screwed up his face, “We couldn’t! He’s under arrest.”

“Sir,” The doctor said, looking up, “Maybe…maybe we should listen to them.” He swallowed nervously under the minister’s glare. “Its just…the memories aren’t supposed to cause physical pain. It might have to do with his alien physiology. His crew would no doubt have better luck finding what’s wrong.

The minister bit his lip, considering, “And what assurance do we have that you won’t run the second you take him back to your ship.”

“For that, I may be of some assistance,” Coran piped up, “I would like permission to stay on the planet and conduct my own investigation.” 

Shiro frowned at him, instantly concerned, “Coran, I can’t just have you hear all alone.”

Coran shrugged, “Send one of the others back for me, if you must, but I will be a bit busy, I think.”

Neither Shiro nor the Minister seemed overly thrilled with this plan, but they eventually both nodded.

 

Shiro knew something was wrong the tick the Black Lion cleared the Numaean shield. Lance was rubbing his head, and Shiro was unsure if he was still in some amount of pain, or just remembered the pain.

Alarms all around them started blaring. “Galra ships coming in fast!” Shiro screamed into the comms. Lion castle was on the other side of the solar system. Where had the ships coming from. 

“Keith and Pidge are on their way to help you,” Allura said, “but with Lance there and Hunk in a pod, we can’t form Voltron.” Lance held onto the walls of the cockpit as Shiro charged at the Galra ships. 

There were 3 of them, each on a direct intercept course with the lion. Shiro grit his teeth, and took on the lead ship. The other two fired at him, but he couldn’t be bothered, taking out his jawblade and running it through the ship. 

The ship was heavily damaged, but didn’t go down easily. For every tick it could keep firing was another tick Shiro couldn’t defend himself against the other’s attacks. He tried to use the ship itself as a shield, blocking against the laser blasts the other ships sent his way, but by the time the lead ship was taken out, the black lion was heavily damaged. 

Lance was doing his best not to freak out. Every once in a while he’d scream a “WATCH OUT!” Or something of that ilk, but he tried to not be in Shiro’s way too much. Shiro appreciated it, remembering when they first found the blue lion how difficult it was not being in control during an attack.

Shiro faced the other two ships, trying to determine which ship he should attack next, when a flash of red came crashing into one of them, the red lion’s jaws clenched around it, and its claws tearing into the hull. Hardly a tick later, the Green lion mimicked red, crashing into the other ship. “We got this, Shiro,” Keith said, “Get Lance out of here!”

Shiro complied, launching off toward Lion Castle.

 

“I don’t understand,” Allura said, “Where did those ships come from? We’ve been monitoring the solar system constantly.”

“I think they might have been using the gravitational forces of the fifth planet,” Pidge said, “If they stayed at a low orbit, and managed to keep to the opposite side of it than we were, it would be hard to detect.”

“Could there be more ships out there?” Shiro asked.

Pidge sighed, “No way of knowing unless they came out. We could try and get into orbit and see if we could find them, but there are still ways they would be able to avoid us.” 

Shiro grimaced, “Well then, in the meantime, no one travels alone. Pidge, you and I are going to go back to Numaea, I don’t like leaving Coran there by himself. Keith, I need you to be at the ready to help defend the castle at a moment’s notice. Once Hunk wakes up, put him on alert too.”

“What about me?” Lance asked. 

“Coran gave me some instructions for Allura to check on you, see if there’s anything we can do to stop the pain. He thinks if we put you in a med pod when its time, you should be frozen through the memories.” 

Lance grimaced. He hated going into the pods. But, not daring to argue with Shiro, nodded. 

 

Pidge and Shiro took off not long after that. Allura went between monitoring their progress and following Coran’s instructions. “Coran thinks that beyond keeping you frozen and out of pain, we may be able to actually link up your mind so that we can see the visions ourselves. Keith, while I’m busy, could you go down and prepare the pod?”

Keith nodded and Allura stalked off. Seeing nothing better to do, Lance leaned back against the wall, watching Keith work. “You know, as far as alien prisons go, the Numaeans aren’t too bad.” He said, rambling, “Granted, I get my own personal hell every few hours, but beyond that, there was like, food, and a place to sleep and all that. I’ve been in worse.”

Keith hummed in response, not looking at him. Lance raised an eyebrow. Usually Keith had something to say, even when Lance made ridiculous comments. It was usually something snarky, but that’s just how the two communicated. “Is something wrong?” Lance asked.

Keith shrugged, trying to follow Allura’s instructions for how to prepare the pod. “Nope.” He said, sharply.

Lance frowned at him, trying to figure out the problem, “You don’t…” Lance said, “You don’t really think I did it, did you?”

Keith rolls his eyes, “I dunno. That whole memory thing shows—“

“You don’t have to tell me what it shows,” Lance snapped at him. Keith looked up, surprised. Lance closed his eyes trying to calm himself down. “I need you to tell me you don’t think I did it.”

Keith frowned at him, “Since when did you care about my opinion.”

Lance’s eyes didn’t open, and Keith thought he saw some moisture in the corner of his eye. “I need everyone to believe I didn’t—couldn’t—have done it.” He swallowed, “Cause then I can believe it too.”

Keith abandoned the pod to give Lance his full attention, “I thought you told everyone you didn’t do it.”

“I didn’t,” Lance said, finally opening his eyes to meet Keith’s. “At least…I don’t think I did. I don’t…I don’t really remember.” He swallowed, “I went to go see Paloa again, to say goodbye…and nothing. Keith, what if…” His lip started trembling, “What if I really did it and I don’t remember?”

Keith didn’t know why he did it, except he thought maybe Lance might have done it for him, but he wrapped his arms around Lance. “You’re not a murderer, Lance.”

“I’m a soldier,” Lance whimpered, “That’s what I am as a paladin. How many people do you think I’ve killed blowing up Galran ships?”

“That’s war, Lance,” Keith said, “It’s not the same thing as killing someone in cold blood. And even in war you only do it because you have to. I know you. We all know you, you didn’t do this.”

Lance gave him a light squeeze. “Thank you,” he said into Keith’s shoulder.

It was strange, comforting Lance. Keith was both very comfortable, and uncomfortable at the same time. He wanted this strangeness to go away, so he pulled a trick out of Lance’s book: make a joke about it. “You’re just a horrible flirt who hit on the wrong woman. Again.”

“Hey!” Lance protested, letting go and giving Keith a light punch. “This time was NOT my fault!”

Keith rolled his eyes. “You’re unsure about whether you could have murdered someone, but FLIRTING is where you draw the line?”

Lance stuck his tongue out. “That’s because I KNOW what happened there. Is it really so hard to imagine that I wouldn’t flirt with someone?”

“Yes,” Keith said, “It’s you. And while I agree you probably wouldn’t murder someone in cold blood, I can almost guarantee you got yourself into this mess somehow.”

Lance clutched his chest, offended, “I’ll have you know, I was a perfect gentleman this time.” Keith rolled his eyes. “I was! I haven’t been flirting with random aliens since…” Lance trailed off, “Since…a while now.” 

Keith frowned up at him. “Since…when?”

Lance bit his lip. “Since…Betajor.” 

Keith tensed up at that. There was a silent agreement among the crew, especially the two of them, not to mention Betajor unless absolutely necessary. There had been some minor telepathic disease there, and long story short, Keith and Lance may have kissed, a little. Or a lot. Finally, Keith swallowed, not blushing at all. Maybe a little. “I didn’t realize a little light mind control was all it took to get you to give up flirting,” He said, putting more controls into the pod. “If we’d known, we could have probably arranged something earlier.”

Lance swallowed as well, oddly quiet. In a soft voice, he said, “I didn’t say I gave up flirting all together.” Keith raised an eyebrow, confused. “Just, ah, just flirting with strangers.”

Keith felt his pulse pound beneath his skin. He couldn’t…he couldn’t mean what Keith thought he meant. But looking up at Lance’s face, Lance looked oddly serious. Keith wasn’t sure what to do with this information. He opened his mouth multiple times, trying to figure out something to say. “Lance,” he finally managed, but he was cut off before he had to think of something to say after that.

Lance clutched his head, “Oh no,” he said, “it’s happening again,” Lance fell forward. 

“Lance!” Keith rushed forward and grabbed him before he fell on the ground. Lance writhed in his arms, nails digging into his scalp. “ALLURA! ALLURA IT STARTED!”

Allura rushed into the room. “Get him into the pod,” She said, and the two of them lifted him inside. The doors closed and inside froze, Lance’s face stuck in pain.

Keith wrung his hands as Allura pressed buttons on the pod. “Hmm,” She said, disappointed. 

“What?” Keith asked.

Sighing, Allura said, “It seems the replay of the memory stopped when we froze him.”

Keith frowned, “Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”

She shook her head, “We can’t exactly keep him frozen forever. The second he thaws out he’s going to experience the replay right where he left off.” She tapped the side, of the pod, thinking. “I’m going to continue working so we’ll be able to see the memory.” She walked off, leaving Keith to stare at Lance, his face clenched up. Keith had to look away.

 

Coran rapped his fist on the door. Inside was the sound of a strange yelping. Then, a voice said, “Shh, Bugga, quiet down.” 

The door opened and a young woman stood in front of Coran, holding a yelping animal. “Can I help you?” 

Coran smiled brightly at her “Hallo! My name is Coran, I’m a friend of Lance McClain’s.” 

She tried to slam the door shut, but he quickly stuck his foot in between it and the frame. “Ow,” He said, trying to ignore how the pain was crushing him. “Please, I just want to talk for a moment. You ARE Paloa, correct?”

She glared at him. “I am. And I know why you’re here, but I can’t help you. If you want to know what happened just look at my statement I gave in the trial.”

“I have,” Coran said, losing feeling in his toes. “But I still have some questions.”

“Like what?” She said, struggling between trying to close the door on him and holding the squiggling animal in her arms. 

He sighed, “Well, for one,” He said, “You mentioned he came onto you. What specifically did he do.”

She sighed, seeming to give up. She released the door and turned inside, Coran following. The animal in her arms squirmed more, yelping at Coran. “Bugga, no,” She said, “Sorry, she just doesn’t like strangers.” She sat on a couch, while Coran continued to stand at attention. “I hadn’t thought he was capable of it either, knowing him.” She said, stroking her pet. “He was just…so nice to me.

She smiled, thinking back, “He said I had looked ‘off’ at dinner. What he didn’t know was I had been feeling off 10 years ago. Now this is just the way I am.”

“10 years?”

She nodded, “When my mother died. Everyone was very sympathetic, even my father, for a little while. But eventually people stop asking if you’re alright…because why bother asking when they know the answer is no?” She shrugged, “Anyway, He was the first to ask in long time.”

“Lance?”

Paloa nodded, “I was swimming, and he came to me, all smiles and bright eyes. Barely asked permission before he jumped in with me…stayed close…”She sighed, happy at the memory, “He let me talk about things everyone else I knew had already heard a thousand times. Even asked if I wanted him to talk to my father about his behavior. I told him no, but I did invite him back the next day.” Her face darkened.

Coran raised an eyebrow, “And what did he do then?”

She bit her lip. “We talked more. About his family. About his crew, his friends…water….we had tea, and then…he kissed me.” She sighed, “And it was wonderful, but if I had known what that kiss would lead to, I never would have agreed.” She sighed, “I think…I think he was trying to protect me, really.”

Coran slowly nodded, absorbing the information. Before he could think to respond, his comm started lighting up. “Would you excuse me for a moment?” She nodded and he took the comm into another room. “What is it?”

Shiro’s voice came through, “Coran, Pidge and I just landed on the planet, and Allura just sent us a message. Hunk woke up, but Lance’s visions knocked him unconscious, so they put him in a med pod. Allura has things set up so we can watch the vision whenever they wake him up, and they’ll relay it to the Black Lion.”

Coran nodded, before realizing Shiro couldn’t see him, “Alright, I’ll meet you there shortly. 

 

Coran didn’t often get the chance to go into any of the lions. Usually he was repairing them, if anything, but it was interesting to see the inside of one when it was not badly damaged. 

Shiro was seated at the helm, Pidge leaning against the wall to his side. On the screen were two images, one of Allura, Hunk and Keith standing in front of Lance’s med pod, and the other a blank screen. 

“Coran,” Allura said, “Any news from Rolen’s wife.” 

Coran chewed on his lip, “Her story matches up with Lance’s up until the end…and she seems quite taken with him.” Keith bristled slightly. “Hopefully, this should clear things up.”

Allura nods, and presses a button. The med pod stays closed, but Lance slumps a little, his face screwing up in pain.

The second image fizzled to life, the vision having already started. They saw an image of Lance and Paloa appeared, passionately kissing one another. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge all stiffened, upset at the image.

The two separated and Paloa looked up. “Father!” She cried, nervous. 

The image of Lance looked up as well. “This—this isn’t what it looks like.” 

“Not what it—“Rolen’s voice said, “This is preposterous! You come here searching for peace and yet you come here, and seduce my daughter? Your friend’s told me about you, Lance McClain,” Hunk flinched at that “I know your type, flirting every woman in the cosmos. Well, you’re not going to be hurting my Paloa—“

“That’s not what happened!” The image of Lance said.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Rolen yelled rushing forward to push Lance. Paloa started screaming.

Lance punched him and he reeled back. “Big mistake,” Lance said, and grabbed a ceremonial knife off of the shelves. As Paloa screamed, Lance stabbed Rolen’s torso.

The image faded, and the paladins were scowling, not believing it. Coran was distracted by something else, “Princess,” he said, “did you see—“

“I saw,” Allura said. She swallowed, her face in shock. Lance was released from the med pod, landing in Hunk’s arms. Keith patted his back awkwardly. “We have to tell the minister.”

“What is it?” Shiro asked. 

“Hunk,” Coran said, “I’m going to need you to compile all the information on the shield harmonics you received from Rolen. Allura, we need to find some way of getting Lance back to the surface safely.”

“Oh, we’ll get there,” She said, “I’m going to land the ship.”

 

The minister was not pleased even in the slightest that they landed the ship. 

“How did you get past our shields?” He demanded as the Voltron crew met with him and his advisor. It took a lot to just get him not to fire at them, “This is a broach of EVERY protocol! I would have thought better of your species, Princess.” 

“I can explain,” Allura said, followed by Hunk, Lance, and Keith. Lance was being held up, still exhausted and worn from the visions, by the other two. “In fact, we have a great deal to discuss, and we shall, once my other paladins and my advisor arrive. Ah!”

No sooner had she said that, Coran, Pidge, and Shiro came in, followed by Paloa. She and Lance locked eyes, and he scowled at her. She glued her gaze to the ground, looking abashed. “Now, I have something for you all to watch.”

Allura took out a small screen, showing the vision she had recorded from Lance’s memory. He winced, looking away from it, and Hunk and Keith gripped his arms tight, comfortingly. Paloa didn’t even watch.

“I don’t quite see what you’re trying to prove here, Princess,” The minister said. 

“I’ll let my assistant here explain,” Allura said. 

Coran stepped up. “Well, first off, Lance, would you come here for a moment.” 

Lance looked confused, but followed directions, extracting his arm from Keith and Hunk. He stumbled for just a moment, but Keith leaped forward to stabilize him. He made it to Coran and, with his prompting, stood up to his full height. “Excellent, now, Ms. Paloa?”

She looked up and stood beside Lance, looking fully awkward. Coran rewound the video. “Now, if you’ll see here, Lance is a good 2 defoogs shorter than Paloa. However, in the video, they’re the same height.”

The minister glowered at him. “You cannot seriously have based your entire argument on heights.”

“No,” Coran said, “that was just preliminary. Do you all see the writing at the bottom of the screen?”

They looked. “I…” The minister said, “I had assumed that had been part of the video program you were showing us this on.”

“What?” Lance said, “I thought that was part of the vision. Is that not Numaean writing?”

“Lance…” Pidge said, “Seriously? How do you not recognize Galran writing?”

“Galran?” The minister said shocked. He turned to the doctor, “How did GALRAN writing get into our vision?”

“I imagine they were put there,” Coran said, “with the intent that the Galra would take Lance while he was in transit from Numaea to Lion Castle, so not only could the Galra pick up two experience Paladins of Voltron, but also the encoded harmonics of the shield surrounding this planet.”

“What?” Paloa said, covering her mouth in shock. Everyone followed her eyes to look at the Minister’s assistant, the doctor. “You told me…you said it was for me--!”

“Shut up,” He whispered to her. 

The minister stared at his advisor in shock. “It was YOU who programmed the visions. You even insisted that we allow the paladins to take Mr. McClain back to their ship--!”

“This is preposterous!” The doctor said, “They’ve clearly done something to frame me. This video is something they probably had made with their alien technology!”

“Ms. Paloa,” Coran said, “Would you mind terribly standing next to the dear doctor for a moment?” Paloa did as she was bid. “How interesting…you’re the same height.”

“I didn’t know about the Galra!” Paloa started crying, pleading to the minister, “I just—he promised to help me—to get away from my father--!”

“You were still okay with framing me!” Lance protested.

“Guards!” The minister called, and the guards came in, “Arrest this man!”

The doctor was dragged away, leaving behind a sobbing Paloa. “We’re going to have a trial,” The minister told her, “But I want you to tell me right here, right now: Did you kill your father?”

She shook her head, “H-h-he did that,” She stammered, “I didn’t—I didn’t even know what he was p-planning, he just said—he said to be free I had to knock the blue paladin unconscious.”

She looks guiltily at Lance, “I’m—I’m so sorry. I really—I really did like you. But he promised…he was so good to me…”

Lance shakes his head, “Someone showing you basic human kindness doesn’t mean you should drop everything for him, let alone frame a stranger for murder for them. You need someone who’s actually going to support you, Paloa.”

She whimpers slightly, but is calmly escorted away by another guard. 

“Princess,” The minister said, “I truly hope through all of this that it isn’t too late to finish the Numaean alliance with Voltron.” 

Allura smiles, “Of course not, Minister. Why don’t we discuss the details right now?”

Lance sighed, “Well, I think I have an appointment with some Numaean doctors to remove these damn visions.” 

He took a deep sigh and stepped forward, nearly falling on his face again. Keith jumped forward, supporting him. “I gotcha, I gotcha,” He said, guiding him away.

**Author's Note:**

> So I have a sort of order planned out for these one-shots, and (not to spoil or anything) the endgame here WILL be klance and shallura, so we can deal with some of the romantic episodes of star trek. So, my question to you is--how impatient are you to get to the romantic jazz of the stories? Because I have several stories that AREN'T romantic, and I can write them either as romantic pairings are still in flirting stages, or they're already a couple, just in the background. I have a few episodes to do that HAVE to be done before canon romance, but still, I could rush those along a bit if people are eager. 
> 
> \--
> 
> For this series, I have a list of episodes that I'll be doing that I have at least some idea of how to do, but if you have an episode you'd like to request me to parody, let me know! I will be doing mostly one-off type of episodes, so nothing super over-arching or plot-heavy.
> 
> As I'm continuing with this, I realize there WILL be some sense of continuity between the pieces, but I'm still trying to write them so they can be enjoyed separately.
> 
> Let me know what you think! My tumblr is dork-empress.tumblr.com


End file.
